The Unexpected
by Old Iron
Summary: Have you ever had something unexpected happen to you? Something so out of the blue you could ever have conceived of it even in a thousand years? It happens to everyone, really. And sometimes something wonderful can come of it.


Well I know I ought to get to finishing my other stuff, but this idea just wouldn't leave me alone despite being tied up at work. In fact its been bugging me for months. Still, I hope you enjoy it.

As always, I own nothing and I greatly appreciate comments and criticisms.

-STORY START-

Allen Ridgeley loosed a tremendous yawn as he sat at his terminal. Another day, another sleepless night with numbers, code, and more bugs than he cared to count.

Things had been rather busy as of late, much to his misfortune, with the release of Vector's latest slew of ES drivers. As with any new release, there were bound to be a few bugs here and there as situations which simply couldn't be tested reliably popped up. Things like firing a heavy machine gun underwater at a thirty degree rotation whilst moving at exactly twenty knots directly to the right. It was more than a little ludicrous how many variables there could be in trying to develop something.

Hence why he was working on a patch for a particularly irritating malfunction in a driver for an older model elbow at three thirty in the morning. At the office, no less.

Some may ask why he was doing such a task. He, who was one of the individuals who was key in the development of the KOS-MOS project. They might think his grand contributions, keen intellect, and unparalleled skill in the fields of programming and robotics would warrant something more substantial. More groundbreaking and world-shaping in its scale and scope.

Those same questioning individuals would be horribly mistaken.

He was little more than another face working on the project. The difference between him and the rest of the crew involved was the fact he'd been dragged along on a rather lethal and mind blowing journey when KOS-MOS had first been activated. He was also one of only two survivors of the group when the Woglinde had been attacked by Gnosis and subsequently sunk.

The other survivor was the remaining half of the genius behind the project. One Shion Uzuki. Who also happened to be the oblivious target of his own affections.

Affections he held onto like a drowning man might a bit of flotsam.

Affections which many, and even himself at times, doubted would ever be returned.

For in Shion's heart still burned the love she held for her now dead lover. The other half of the KOS-MOS project's mastermind. One Kevin Winnicot. A man who had been everything Allen wasn't. Well, with the exception of a few things. But they were inconsequential to the one it mattered.

Allen could never replace or even follow behind Kevin.

A part of him knows this, but he still refuses to truly accept it. And everyone can see through his attempts at bravado and charm as the actions of a desperate man. They just don't have the heart to tell him to give up.

So here sits Allen in the dead of night, alone in the Vector labs on board the Durandal, doing what amounts to grunt work while everyone else is off being useful or doing something important in the grand scheme of things. Or better yet, getting some sleep. He can't quite recall the last time he'd slept properly.

With Shion doing the bulk of the work in maintaining KOS-MOS, his usefulness at the moment was ranked just a bit higher than a well known code monkey. And with the gynoid performing so absurdly well, he doubted the status quo would change anytime soon. Perhaps he'd get lucky and Shion would need a hand with something? Or maybe he'd somehow make a breakthrough whilst debugging these drivers and become more useful to the group.

The actual likelihood of these situations taking place quickly asserted itself over the man's self-worth and he sighed in resignation. "Yeah right. Like that would ever happen."

The cold walls offered no reply to his words. Merely silence and darkness.

Allen reached out to grasp his mug of coffee, long gone cold, and took a sip. He grimaced as what remained of the now foul tasting liquid touched his tongue. Cold coffee had always sat poorly with him and now was no different. Making a strained face as he forced himself to swallow, he couldn't help but stare at the nondescript white mug in his hand.

The only marking on the cup was the Vector logo, denoting it as standard issue merchandise from his employer. There was a time when he might have brought a mug from home. Something more colorful or personal. But given how his place of residence tended to shift with wherever his assignments were, personal effects usually ended up stuck in storage and replaced with impersonal, cheap, and efficient articles. Having to make an emergency escape from a few of his workplaces also had a bit of an effect on his ability to keep personal items.

It was a wonder he hadn't become as bland as his effects. At least, he hoped so.

He sighed once more, cursing himself for letting his thoughts turn as dark as they had. Come on, he had to smile. Show the world who's boss. Make himself as useful as possible. Not simply be stuck as a background actor in the grand play of life. The one who made sure the actors had a drink of water when they took a break. Or washed the clothes. Or any number of horribly mundane and likely thankless tasks.

So much for cheering himself up. "Well... This is depressing..."

"What is?"

The voice cut through his gloomy thoughts like plasma torch through butter, making him jump in surprise and nearly sending the empty mug hurtling into the air. Fortunately for him and the owner of the voice, he managed to avoid turning the empty beverage container into a potentially dangerous flying object.

Clutching his chest as he tried to get his heartbeat under control, Allen turned to see who had snuck up on him, a questioning barb on the tip of his tongue. A barb which died in short order as he laid eyes upon the figure, dimly illuminated by the light of his computer screen. Whomever he had been expecting, it was not this.

The humanoid anti-Gnosis weapons platform: KOS-MOS.

Truthfully, he really shouldn't have been as surprised as he was. There was only one possible owner of such a cool, monotone voice. Well, Ziggy was a possibility. A very remote possibility. A possibility only made likely through the machinations of a mischievous MOMO under the influence of a certain redheaded miscreant.

What was genuinely surprising however, was the mere presence of the gynoid. Allen blinked a few times, trying to tell himself this was an apparition or other product of a sleep deprived mind fueled only by caffeine. Nope, still there.

Wait, how had she even snuck up on him? She's not exactly stealthy in design or operation. Had he simply been so out of it so as to not hear her? How didn't really matter at this point anyways, it was more the why which demanded answering.

"K-KOS-MOS? What are you doing here? I thought you were-" Did 'asleep' really qualify? It raised the question of whether or not what she did in her pod qualified as sleep. He supposed it did. And he really couldn't think of a better term at the moment. Staring at line after line of code didn't really put one in a very verbose mindset. "-asleep."

"Affirmative." Said without tone or inflection, the single word response merely made Allen stare at her in confusion. A confusion which prompted her to elaborate. "My recovery cycle ended early and I did not wish to disturb Shion's rest."

It explained very little to the brown haired man. "So... you decided to wander around?" An existence such as her's, wandering around? He could think of half a dozen things wrong with such a statement from another half dozen angles. "Why come here? The only one here is me. And I'm just doing busywork." Busywork which could have been handed off to one of hundreds of other employees who were actually involved with the ES development branch.

KOS-MOS' response nearly made him fall out of his chair. "You appeared... lonely."

"E-Excuse me?" He was at a loss for words. Him? Lonely? Okay, perhaps he was feeling a little isolated at the moment. But lonely? Surely she was joking. Oh, wait. KOS-MOS doesn't tell jokes. Just how bad off must he be for a combat gynoid to notice? To the best of his recollection, the only person who's emotional wellbeing she seemed to notice, much less be concerned about, was Shion's.

Maybe MOMO's. Maybe.

And this was all on the off chance KOS-MOS managed to properly interpret the situation and act on it. She was built to kill Gnosis, not be a therapist.

But the end result was the fact he was absolutely certain of was if she decided to display some measure of personal concern for someone who wasn't Shion, he would be on the bottom of the list.

"You appeared lonely." Apparently she'd taken his stuttered exclamation as him not having heard her properly the first time. It was a logical conclusion. "I saw you through the video feed."

Video feed? She was spying on him? No, more likely she'd looked for everyone else and saw him through the security cameras. Jr. probably wouldn't be too happy if he found out she'd hacked the Durandal's systems. Again. The last time had been when Shion had left her identification card in the lab and no one could find her because of it. The redhead had not been pleased. Apparently KOS-MOS' method of hacking was not the most gentle one.

Before he could ruminate further on the situation, KOS-MOS held out her hands to him. Only now did he notice the faint aroma. One he ought to have noticed a while ago. Lack of sleep did funny things to a person's perceptive capabilities. He looked down to see what she was offering up.

It was a cup of coffee.

In one of Vector's standard issue mugs.

With a hesitant hand, he reached out to take the mug, pausing only to look up at her gaze. She gave the briefest of nods and allowed him to take the offered beverage.

Allen stared down at the steaming contents of the cup. It was black. He usually put a bit of vanilla creamer in it to lighten the bitterness. Plus, he liked vanilla. But he certainly wasn't going to complain at being gifted such a thing. "Thanks..." His voice was a bit smaller than it usually was, as if he wasn't certain how to properly convey his gratitude or confusion.

There was a pregnant pause as KOS-MOS appeared to be waiting for him to take a drink. Surely he must be mistaken. Why would she want to see him drink it? Was it some sort of pride at stepping beyond her usual course of action? Perhaps she wanted to know if she'd done a good job. At what, he wasn't quite certain.

He took a tentative sip, making sure it wasn't too hot. Well, it was certainly piping hot. But not so scalding as to make it undrinkable. It was a little too bitter, even for black coffee. And he was pretty sure there were a few grounds in it. But for some reason, it was more delicious than any cup he'd had in a long while. A small smile cracked his tired face. "Its good."

"I am glad." Her response made Allen look up. And for the briefest of moments, he would swear he saw something in her passive expression. Maybe he was imagining things. Or just looking too hard. Yes, it must be a figment of his imagination. But still, why was she glad?

Taking another sip, he set down the mug and looked fully at KOS-MOS. It might be rude, but he was far too curious. Not to mention, random acts of kindness usually did not find their way to him. "KOS-MOS, why did you come visit me? Even if I appeared... lonely, you didn't need to go out of your way for me."

If she appeared put out by the question, he certainly wasn't able to tell. And even if he had such skill in reading people, reading the emotions of a gynoid like her would have been impossible. Of this he is certain.

"Approximately four days ago, I witnessed Shion appearing concerned for her brother's wellbeing. According to her, something of great import to him was lost and she wished to make him 'feel better' through some form of action." It was perhaps the most Allen had ever heard her say at once. But the gynoid's monotone certainly gave the small speech an unnerving quality. One he was still getting used to.

Taking up the cup and drinking yet more of the coffee held within, Allen gave KOS-MOS a cursory glance before speaking. "So I looked lonely and you thought bringing me a cup of coffee would help?" It was a massive development in terms of her autonomy. But one he wasn't quite sure if he wanted to reveal to Shion. To make it worse, he wasn't certain why.

"Affirmative."

Allen loosed a slightly off tone chuckle, somewhere between genuine amusement and self-depreciation. Of anyone to try and cheer him up, it was KOS-MOS. The _last_ person he ever expected to even consider the notion. He wondered what it said about him when it was a combat gynoid and not a flesh and blood person reaching out to him. Still, he could honestly say her actions had made him feel a little better.

"Do you... want to sit down? I can't say I'll be much good for conversation. All I'm doing is debugging some drivers." If she had nothing else to do, at least the company would be nice.

KOS-MOS gave the smallest of nods in confirmation, only adding to Allen's confusion. He hadn't expected her to accept his offer. Stand there like a statue perhaps. But not actually sit down and join him. Just what was going on here? Maybe he's thinking too hard and the tiredness is finally getting to him. Coffee can only keep someone going for so long. He watched wordlessly as she left briefly in order to acquire a chair.

They sat in silence for a time. Broken only by the tapping of Allen's fingers upon the keyboard and the occasional sound of a beverage being consumed. Eventually the latter ceased as the mug was emptied. There was no request or offer for more.

Before the clock struck four-thirty, KOS-MOS broke the silence. "There is an error on line 46,893."

Allen blinked and looked from her to the line in question. There most certainly was an error. One which hadn't been there before. And it was the most basic of errors to make as well. An unbreakable loop which would lead to a stack overflow error. Groaning, he went back to fix it. "Thanks."

"You are welcome." Perhaps it was the hour, but did she sound a little... happy?

However after retyping the line twice over with yet more and more errors, both major and minor, he slumped in his chair and looked to the ceiling with a sigh. "Looks like I won't be getting anywhere else tonight." He yawned considerably as his vision wavered from exhaustion. "What... time is it?"

Before he could rub his eyes enough to see again, his companion answered the somewhat rhetorical question. "Four-fifty and twenty seven seconds. AM."

"Wow... I didn't know it was so late. I might be able to get some sleep if I hurry back." Maybe ten minutes to get to his domicile. An hour of sleep. Skip breakfast to take a shower. Another ten minutes to get back. Yeah, he should be able to pull it off. Part of him cursed the fact this particular lab was further away from the apartments than any other.

"Would not be easier to sleep here?" KOS-MOS' query brought a confused look from the tired man. In response, she pointed to the cushioned benches along one side of the lab. The sort normally reserved for observers, clients, or even the rare field trip from one of the myriad technical schools.

Allen shook his head, and action he found to be more draining than it really ought to have been. Perhaps the caffeine was done with him and he was crashing from the high. It had happened before, usually when he'd had too much. "Can't. Against the rules and-" He yawned again, far longer and louder than before. "-everyone else will be here in a few hours."

Did she just narrow her eyes?

"Unacceptable." The reply was crisp and allowed no argument to the contrary.

He could only parrot her words in a questioning manner. "Unacceptable? What do you-?" Allen cut himself off as her ruby gaze seemed to overpower his will to counter her word. It would seem even in his half-dead state, he could realize arguing would not sway her. Nor might it be in his best interests to do so. Swallowing, he acquiesced. "...Alright. I'll sleep here. But, why?"

"So you do not fall asleep on the transport." Okay, he can't really argue against that. At least he's never done so before. Even he has limits to self-humiliation. She raised a finger and pointed to one of the benches, as if telling him to hurry up and get some sleep. Allen could not help but try to contemplate just how strange this all was. Her actions alone bordered on mind-boggling.

Staggering to his feet, the exhausted man lumbered over to the bench she'd pointed to. "This alright?" A nod was his only response. Well, at least he'll get a little extra shuteye. Theoretically. He paused before laying down and addressed the sole other occupant of the room. "KOS-MOS, thanks. I mean it. Good night."

She gave no reply as he lay down on the bench, his neck at an odd angle. Despite how uncomfortable it was, he was too tired to care at this point. Allen was asleep in moments. His form barely illuminated by the display he'd forgotten to turn off.

KOS-MOS remained seated for a little while longer before turning off the display and walking over to the sleeping man. She noted just how uncomfortable his sleeping position appeared to be. Shion had slept in such a manner before and had awoken with what she called 'An awful crick in her neck'. This would not do. She was uncertain why, but she knew it to be undesirable.

With movements far more gentle than any would expect from a gynoid built specifically for the purpose of enacting genocide upon the Gnosis, she sat down next to Allen and carefully placed his head upon her lap. It was still an awkward sleeping position. But one far less so than he had been moments ago.

A part of her asks why she is taking such actions?

There is no answer she can give.

Maybe she should speak with Shion about this. Shion would likely know the answer. But, she will ask tomorrow.

In the darkness of the lab, gleaming ruby eyes close as five words are whispered to the night.

"Good night, Allen. Sleep well."

-END-


End file.
